PHILADELPHIA – With the La Salle men's soccer team currently riding high with Atlantic 10 Tournament berths in the past two years and a current 3-1-1 record, there is another winning aspect about the Explorers program that is not seen in the statistics nor necessarily gets all the glory; however, it is the proudest tradition of the program – academic achievement.
 
Seniors Jim Clark, Rob McIntyre and Alex Workman exemplify what Head Coach Pat Farrell works to achieve in his program – the building of smart college graduates who go out and make successful careers for themselves. The trio of seniors has nine semesters of Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll awards combined among them and all three are poised to graduate in May with jobs or graduate school on the horizon.
 
While juggling soccer practice, conditioning and regular coursework, the three seniors had opportunities over the past few years and this past summer to gain real-world experience in prestigious internships.
 
McIntyre, an Integrated Science, Business & Technology major, spent over six months working in an Information Technology co-op program at McNeil Nutritionals – a division of Johnson & Johnson – in Fort Washington, Pa., last spring. He utilized his combination of marketing and information technology knowledge to serve as a liaison between the company and external creative agencies and brand partners to manage websites and email blasts. He worked closely with the India-based IT coding team to ensure smooth operations of many aspects of the information technology network and to ensure that all McNeil Nutritionals websites met internal and worldwide compliance standards.
 
McIntyre gained leadership experience through his internship as well, planning and coordinating a global business town hall and serving as the community service chairperson on the Johnson & Johnson Inter/Co-op Board. His internship led to a recent job offer for post-graduation, and he was also selected to participate in the company's Information and Technology Leadership Development Program. He is in elite company, with less than 40 students selected around the country and in Europe.
 
Workman, who will graduate with a degree in Finance and Management, had the opportunity to work in Merrill Lynch's General Wealth Management department in Annapolis, Md. The General Wealth Management group works directly with clients to help manage their personal money, including retirement accounts and college funds, among others. Workman had the chance to wear different hats within the internship, including updating client accounts and researching different companies as potential investments. He also wore a marketing hat as he set up the website and newsletter for his Merrill Lynch mentor. Workman is still considering post-graduation plans, and is looking to either pursue a higher degree through graduate school or apply for jobs.
 
Clark, a dual major in Accounting and Finance, had two internships in the course of the past year, including at KPMG and the ACE Group. He actually started internships his sophomore year, spending that year in the General Wealth Management department at Merrill Lynch's Philadelphia office. While at Merrill Lynch, he completed two weekend-long externships for both KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers and was offered longer term internships at both companies for his junior year. He chose KPMG, and spent three months in the spring of junior year as the audit intern in their Philadelphia office. He assisted with audits in low-risk areas including cash and accounts receivable, which he described as areas less prone to fraud. The KPMG internship was essentially a 10-week-long job interview, and Clark was offered a job upon completion of the internship. He begins in September 2013.
 
All three credit their time at La Salle and on the soccer team for their focus and ability to accomplish what they have in their time on campus, in particular the ability to manage their extremely limited time as well as they have.
 
“Soccer keeps me focused,” McIntyre said. “Since I know I have practice at this time and games at that time, it forces me to get work done.”
 
Workman said, “You learn a lot in terms of managing your time and responsibilities. It helps in all aspects of your life, especially with being organized.”
 
Clark, whose internship at KPMG routinely took up 50-60 hours a week in addition to practice, relayed, “It's a lot of time management. You just take it one hour at a time and get through each individual task to the best of your ability and move on to the next.”
 
All three student-athletes also credit the support systems in place in the university in general and in the soccer program.
 
“Coach Farrell is a big proponent of education,” McIntyre added. “He said you don't come here to play soccer, you come here to go to school. He, Bobby [Wilkinson] and Brian [Blesi] have been a huge help. We are very lucky to have the coaches we have, education-wise.”
 
“La Salle being right here in Philly has [also] helped a lot,” Workman said. “It's so close to so much commercial [enterprise] and job opportunities. I'm from Maryland and it's just completely different up here. I'm glad I came here.”
 
The three are also involved in other aspects of campus as well. McIntyre and Workman have spent the last three years mentoring elementary school students as part of La Salle's Big Brothers Big Sisters partnership with nearby Logan Elementary School. Clark and Workman have served as the team's liaisons to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since 2010. Clark is also a part of the university's rigorous Business Scholars Co-Op Program, which provides opportunities for high level business courses with fellow co-op members, and also requires the maintenance of a 3.5 grade point average every semester.
 
Although their time at La Salle is winding down, each one had keen insight for the younger members of the soccer team.
 
“Work hard in school,” McIntyre said. “It sounds so cliché right now… but in the long run it's going to pay off. Work hard on the field, work hard in the classroom, and you'll be dead set. La Salle's a great place.”
 
Workman added, “Do the right things. They know what they're supposed to be doing and if they don't do it, it will catch up eventually.”
 
Clark also stated, “Stay focused on the goal you're trying to accomplish.
 
The day in and day out is always tough, but looking back … over my entire college career, it was worth it.”